Health Impairment By:Sarah Arrowsmith

Health Impairment
Definition:
Chronic or acute health problem such that the physiological capacity to function is significantly limited or impaired and that results in limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, resulting in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment

Characteristics:
(There is a huge range of Health issues that a student can have)
-Asthma-
often allergic disorder of respiration, characterized by bronchospasm, wheezing, and difficulty in expiration, often accompanied by coughing and a feeling of constriction in the chest.
-ADHD-
Attention Defecit Hyper Disorder
-diabetes-
characterized by inadequate production or utilization of insulin and resulting in excessive amounts of glucose in the blood and urine
-epilepsy-
a disorder of the nervous system, characterized either by mild, episodic loss of attention or sleepiness
-heart condition
-hemophilia
any of several X-linked genetic disorders, symptomatic chiefly in males, in which excessive bleeding occurs owing to the absence or abnormality of a clotting factor in the blood
-leukemia
any of several cancers of the bone marrow that prevent the normal manufacture of red and white blood cells and platelets, resulting in anemia, increased susceptibility to infection, and impaired blood clotting.

Ways to Accomodate Students with Health Impairments:
-Note Takers
-Audio or video taped class sessions
-Flexible attendence requirements
-Assignments available in electronic format
-Extended exam time or alternative testing arrangements
-An environment that minimizes fatigue and injury
-Speech recognition computer input devices, ergonomic keyboards, one-handed keyboards, expanded keyboards, or miniature keyboards

Emotional Impairment By:Sarah Arrowsmith

Emotional Impairment
Definition:
One or more of the following characteristics exhibited over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects educational performance: an inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors; an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers; inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances; a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.

Characteristics:
-innapropriate behaviors and/or feelings under normal circumstances
-general mood of unhappiness or depression
-tendency to develop physical symptoms when faced with fears as they relate to school and personal issues
-Students can either internalize their issues or externalize them
Externalize:
Get out of their seats
disturb peers
Hit or fight
Argue excessively
Steal
Do not comply with directions
Have temper tantrums
Cheat
Do not complete assignments
Destroy property

Internalize
Little to no social interaction with others
Do not make friends
Some are fearful of things with no reason
Frequently complain of being ill or sick
Have bouts of depression

Ways to Accomodate Children with Emotion Impairment:
-Expose students with behavioral disorders to other students who demonstrate the appropriate behaviors.
-Have preestablished consequences for misbehavior
-Use time-out sessions to cool off disruptive behavior and as a break if the student needs one for a disability-related reason
-Enforce classroom rules consistently
-Monitor the student's self-esteem. Assist in modification, as needed
-As a teacher, you should be patient, sensitive, a good listener, fair and consistent in your treatment of students with behavioral disorders
-Teachers should reward students for good behavior and withhold reinforcement for inappropriate behavior
-Keep an organized classroom learning environment
-Present a sense of positiveness in the learning environment.

Developmental Delay By:Sarah Arrowsmith

Developmental Delay
Definition:
Significantly limited, impaired, or delayed learning capacity of a young child (3-9 years old), exhibited by difficulties in or or more of the following areas: receptive and/or expressive language cognitive abilities; physical functioning; social, emotional, or adaptive functiong; and/or self-help skills
-A developmental delay is any significant lag in a child's physical, cognitive, behavioral, emotional, or social development, in comparison with norms.
-At least 8 percent of all children from birth to six years have developmental problems and delays in one or more areas of development.

Characteristics:
Behavioral Warning Signs:
Does not pay attention or stay focused on an activity for as long a time as other children of the same age
Focuses on unusual objects for long periods of time; enjoys this more than interacting with others
Avoids or rarely makes eye contact with others
Gets unusually frustrated when trying to do simple tasks that most children of the same age can do
Shows aggressive behaviors and acting out and appears to be very stubborn compared with other children
Displays violent behaviors on a daily basis
Stares into space, rocks body, or talks to self more often than other children of the same age
Does not seek love and approval from a caregiver or parent

Gross Motor Warning Signs:
Has stiff arms and/or legs
Has a floppy or limp body posture compared to other children of the same age
Uses one side of body more than the other
Has a very clumsy manner compared with other children of the same age

Vision Warning Signs:
Seems to have difficulty following objects or people with her eyes
Rubs eyes frequently
Turns, tilts or holds head in a strained or unusual position when trying to look at an object
Seems to have difficulty finding or picking up small objects dropped on the floor (after the age of 12 months)
Has difficulty focusing or making eye contact
Closes one eye when trying to look at distant objects
Eyes appear to be crossed or turned
Brings objects too close to eyes to see
One or both eyes appear abnormal in size or coloring

Hearing Warning Signs:
Talks in a very loud or very soft voice
Seems to have difficulty responding when called from across the room, even when it is for something interesting
Turns body so that the same ear is always turned toward sound
Has difficulty understanding what has been said or following directions after once she has turned 3 years of age
Doesn't startle to loud noises
Ears appear small or deformed
Fails to develop sounds or words that would be appropriate at her age

--A child with a developmental delay differs from the typical child with normal growth and developmental patterns because:
-they lag behind in normal developmental milestones
Examples of these:
--Any child who is not speaking words or sentences by age 3 could have a developmental delay
--Less adventursome during toddler years
--Show no increase in motor skills(trouble learning to walk)


Ways To Accomodate Children with Developmental Delays In A Classroom:
-Repetition of instruction
-rephrasing questions
-modeling tasks
-visual learning strategies
-assignments broken down into smaller tasks
-models and reward systems

Communication Impairment by:Sarah Arrowsmith

Communication Impairment
Definition:
Significantly limited, impaired, or delayed capacity to use expressive and/or receptive language, exhibited by difficulties in one or more of the following areas: speech, such as articulation and/or voice; conveying, understanding, or using spoken, written, or symbolic language.

Characteristics:
speech sound errors-
1.Distortions: A speech sound is distorted when it sounds more like the intended phoneme than another speech sound but is conspicuously wrong. The /s/ sound, for example, is relatively difficult to produce; children may produce the word “sleep” as “schleep,” “zleep,”. Some speakers have a lisp. Distortions can cause misunderstanding, although parents and teachers often become accustomed to them.

2.Substitutions: Children sometimes substitute one sound for another, as in saying “train” for “crane” or “doze” for “those.” Children with this problem are often certain they have said the correct word and may resist correction. Substitution of sounds can cause considerable confusion for the listener.

3.Omissions. Children may omit certain sounds, as in saying “cool” for “school.” They may drop consonants from the ends of words, as in “pos” for “post.” Most of us leave out sounds at times, but an extensive omission problem can make speech not understandable.

4.Additions. The addition of extra sounds makes comprehension difficult. For example, a child might say “buhrown” for “brown” or “hamber” for “hammer.”

Other Characteristics of Children with Communication Impairment:
-inability to follow directions
-slow and incomprehensible speech
-pronounced difficulties in syntax(order of words in a sentence) and articulation(manner in which sounds are formed)
-Stuttering is a disorder of speech flow that most often appears between the ages of 3 and 4 years and may progress from a sporadic to a chronic problem

Ways to Accomodate Children with Communication Impairments in the Classroom:
-Seat them in the best seat for active participation in the classroom activity
-Use first letter cueing whenever possible as a communication strategy
-Partner children up in groups to work on communication
-If Some children in the class have sever communication disabilites and use alternate ways to communicate make sure that you, as the teacher, have modeled to the other students how to communicate with that child.
-Do not seclude the student just because they take longer to communicate what they need/want/or feel.
-Encourage other classmates to accept the student with communicative disabilities
-Give them time to express themselves, do not interrupt or try to fill in gaps for them
-Give students with speech impairments oppurtunities to speak in class.
-Keep up to date on the students accomplishments in speech therapy

Organizations that provide assistance to individuals with communication impairments:

--American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is the professional, scientific, and credentialing association for 135,000 members and affiliates who are audiologists, speech-language pathologists and speech, language, and hearing scientists.

Autism By:Sarah Arrowsmith

Autism

Definition:
Developmental disability that significantly affects verbal and non-verbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age 3, and that adversely affects a child's educational performance.


Characteristics:

• Tantrums


• Difficulty in expressing needs/wants


• Using gestures or pointing instead of words


• Preference to be alone


• Little to no eye contact


• Obsessive attachment to objects


• Not wanting to cuddle or show affection


• No real fears of danger


• Non responsive to verbal cues, although hearing tests are normal


• Over or under sensitivity to pain

Ways To Accomodate Children With Autism In A Classroom:

• Teach has to be prepared to integrate autistic children into the mainstream classroom


• Teachers need to be supportive when child realizes they are "different"


• Provide safe and supportive environment


• Work closely with parents


• Lots of one on one


• A well organized classroom


• Arrange desks neatly


• Place autistic child next to a friend


• Present materials in multiple ways that appeals to all senses..example:Showing a movie or playing an educational game


• When working with groups pair autistic child with a nice helpful student to ease social anxiety


• Try to refrain from major classroom changes

Organizations That Provide Assistance To Individuals With Autism:

• Autism Society Of America

--- Founded in 1965 by Bernard Rimland. Over the last 40 years the society has grown from a handful of parents into the leading source of information, reasearch, and reference on Autism

• Council For Exceptional Children

--- Largest international organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities

• Autism Allians of metro west

---Provides families in the Metro West are of Boston with information, education and support on Autism

Specific learning disability- By Rebecca Young

Specific Learning Disability

Definition:

Disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or mathematical calculations, including conditions such as a perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.

• Dysgraphia
  An individual with dysgraphia has a difficult time with the physical task of forming letters and words using a pen and paper and has difficulty producing legible handwriting.

• Dyscalculia
  A person with Dyscalculia has difficulty understanding and using math concepts and symbols.

• Dyslexia
  An individual with dyslexia may mix up letters within words and sentences while reading. He may have difficulty spelling words correctly while writing. Letter reversals are common. Some individuals with dyslexia have a difficult time with navigating and routefinding tasks as they are easily confused by directions and spatial information such as left and right.

• Dyspraxia
  A person with dyspraxia may mix up words and sentences while talking. There is often a discrepancy between language comprehension and language production.

• Non-verbal Learning Disorder
  Poor motor coordination, visual-spatial organization and/or a lack of social skills may characterize non-verbal learning disorders.

• Auditory Processing Disorder
  A person with an auditory processing disorder intermittently experiences an inability to process verbal information.

Characteristics:

• For a student with a learning disability, auditory, visual, or tactile information can become jumbled at any point during transmission, receipt, processing, and/or re-transmission.
  
• Some students who have learning disabilities may be able to organize and communicate their thoughts in a one-to-one conversation but find it difficult to articulate the same ideas in a noisy classroom
  
• students may experience difficulties with specific processes or subject areas such as calculating mathematics problems, reading, or understanding language.
  
• People with learning disabilities may have difficulty spelling and subsequently have difficulty creating or editing text or otherwise communicating in writing.
• Difficulties with attention, organization, time management, and prioritizing tasks are also common.

Accommodations for students who have learning disabilities:

• Notetakers.
• Audiotaped or videotaped class sessions.
• Extended exam time and a quiet testing location.
• Visual, aural, and tactile demonstrations incorporated into instruction.
• Concise course and lecture outlines.
• Books on tape.
• Alternative evaluation methods (e.g., portfolio, oral or video presentations).
• Providing projects or detailed instructions on audiotapes or print copies.
• Reinforcing directions verbally.
• Breaking large amounts of information or instructions into smaller segments.

Computers can be adapted to assist students with learning disabilities. A student with learning disabilities might find these accommodations useful:

• Computers equipped with speech output, which highlights and reads (via screen reading software and a speech synthesizer) text on the computer screen.
• Word processing software that includes electronic spelling and grammar checkers, software with highlighting capabilities, and word prediction software.
• Software to enlarge screen images.
  

For math and science classes, examples of specific accommodations that are useful for students with learning disabilities include:

• The use of scratch paper to work out math problems during exams.
• Talking calculators.
• Fractional, decimal, and statistical scientific calculators.
• Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) software for math.
• Computer Assisted Design (CAD) software for engineering.
• Large display screens for calculators and adding machines

Sensory Impairment- By Rebecca Young

Sensory Impairment

Definition:

1. Hearing- Limitation, impairment, or absence of the capacity to hear with amplification, resulting in one or more of the following: reduced performance in hearing acuity tasks, difficulty with oral communication, and/ or difficulty in understanding auditorally presented information in the education environment. The term includes students who are deaf and students who are hard of hearing.
2. Vision- Limitation, impairment, or absence of capacity to see after correction, resulting in one or more of the following: reduced performance in visual acuity tasks, difficulty with written communication, and/or difficulty understanding information presented visually in the education environment. The term includes students who are blind and students with limited vision.
3. Deafblind-  Concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes severe communication and other developmental and educational needs.

When you are teaching a hearing impaired student you should have the following courtesies:

• Get the attention of a student with a hearing impairment before speaking and communicating and always face the student.
• If not facing a student with a hearing impairment, gently touch a student on the shoulder or on the arm to indicate that you want to talk to him/her.
• Do not be alarmed if the student does not understand and you cannot understand him/her. Generally, you will become accustomed to each other in time.
• When communicating, always face the student with a hearing impairment.
• Facial expressions, gestures, and other body language will help convey your message.
• For reinforcement repeat new vocabulary in different contexts.
• Sequence topics so that new material is related to that previously learned.
• The use of visual aids is most helpful since vision is the student's primary means of receiving information.
• Use written announcements (assignments, due dates, exam dates, changes in the class schedule, special event dates, etc.).
• If ambiguities or difficulties arise in the home concerning assignments or lessons, have the parents make a note of these difficulties. Follow-up in written detail.
• Provide an outline in advance of the lesson/activity to give to the student in advance, also list your expectations.
• Write all homework assignments, class instructions, and procedural changes on the chalkboard.
• Use captioned films, videos, and laser disks.
• Use interpreter where needed (see general strategies).
• Avoid seating the student in heavy traffic areas.
• Do not touch or pet a hearing dog. These animals are working animals and it may be hazardous for the hearing impaired student if the dog is distracted.
• Avoid vibrations and excessive noise.
• Make chalkboard notes legible.
• Do not talk while writing on chalkboard.
• Eliminate background noises. Sounds taken for granted and normally ignored by hearing individuals, are amplified by a hearing aid and interfere with the communication of the person who is hard of hearing.
• Establish, with the student, a procedure in case of an emergency. For example, agree that for a fire drill (or fire) the teacher will write on board "Fire drill FIRE--go out backdoor." (Also, if you have a signing student, learn the signs for emergency, fire, go, etc.)
• Get the attention of a person with a hearing impairment before speaking.
• If necessary, use written notes to communicate.
• Supplement audible alarm systems with simple visual alarms such as flashing lights.
• When teaching a student with a hearing impairment, ask where he/she would like to sit, in order to communicate in an optimal manner.

Plans for the classroom to make it easier for the student:

• If the student lip-reads:
  • Have students sit closer to the lecturer.
  • Look directly at the student.
  • Speak slowly, naturally, and clearly.
  • Slowing down slightly may help.
  • Do not exaggerate your lip movements or shout.
  • If you have a mustache, keep it well trimmed.
• If the student uses an interpreter:
  • Speak directly to the student rather than to the interpreter.
  • Signing may be distracting at first, but you and the other students will soon become accustomed to the interpreter's presence.
  • Give the student and the interpreter outlines of the lecture or written material, in advance, so that they can become familiar with new technical vocabulary.
  • Interpreters should not give their opinion of a student's progress as this can violate the student's rights.
  • Provide scripts of video and laser media when possible for both the interpreter and the student with a hearing disability (with or without captioning).
  • The interpreter is not to answer lesson related questions from the student with a hearing impairment. The student should direct all lesson related questions to the instructor.
  • The interpreter should stand closer to the section of the chalkboard that is being used by the instructor, thereby allowing the student to simultaneously see both the signs and the writing on the board.
• When writing materials for hearing impaired students:
  • Break up long sentences.
  • Reduce difficult vocabulary load.
  • Reduce concept density.
  • When using a pronoun be sure that the antecedent is very clear.
  • Do not omit words such as: "that" where such words will clarify a sentence connection.
  • Stay with simple coordinating conjunctions (e.g., but, so, for, and) and avoid less common transitional words (e.g., however, as a consequence, nevertheless, although).
  • Keep cause-and-effect expressions in a very simple in form.
  • Keep conditional expressions which influence the meaning of a statement to a minimum (such as; if, when, assuming that, suppose, provided that, etc.).
  • If there is no other way to avoid using a difficult word, include a brief explanation in parentheses, however keep parenthetical explanations to a minimum.
  • If an important basic or technical word is to be taught:
  • Make meaning and application absolutely clear.
  • Use context as a memory aid.
  • For a new term, repeat the word numerous times in a variety of contexts.
  
  
• While teaching a student who is visionally impaired you should consider the following:
  
• Speak to the class upon entering and leaving the room or site.
  
• Call the student with a vision impairment by name if you want his/her attention.
  
• Seat the student away from glaring lights (e.g. by the window) and preferably infront of the class.
  
• Use descriptive words such as straight, forward, left, etc. in relation to the student's body orientation. Be specific in directions and avoid the use of vague terms with unusable information, such as "over there", "here", "this", etc.
  
• Describe, in detail, pertinent visual occurrences of the learning activities.
  
• Describe and tactually familiarize the student to the classroom, laboratory, equipment, supplies, materials, field sites, etc.
  
• Give verbal notice of room changes, special meetings, or assignments.
  
• Offer to read written information for a person with a visual impairment, when appropriate.
  
• Order the appropriate text books for the students in their preferred medium.
  
• Identify yourself by name, don't assume that the student who is visually impaired will recognize you by your voice even though you have met before.
  
• If you are asked to guide a student with a visual impairment, identify yourself, offer your services and, if accepted, offer your arm to the student's hand. Tell them if they have to step up or step down, let them know if the door is to their left or right, and warn them of possible hazards.
  
• Orally, let the student know if you need to move or leave or need to end a conversation.
  
• If a student with a visual impairment is in class, routinely check the instructional environment to be sure it is adequate and ready for use.
  
• When communicating with a student who has a vision impairment, always identify yourself and others who are present.
  
• Do not pet or touch a guide dog. Guide dogs are working animals. It can be hazardous for the visually impaired person if the dog is distracted.
  
• Be understanding of the slight noise made by a portable translator 
  
• Also use an auditory or tactile signal where a visual signal is normally used.
  
• It is not necessary to speak loudly to people with visual impairments.
  
• Always notify changes of class schedule in advance.
  

Some things to consider while teaching:

• By verbally spelling out a new or technical word, you will be helping the student with a vision impairment, as well as for other students.
• Use an overhead projector to show step-by-step instructions. Mask all the instructions except the one(s) that you want to present.
• Use an opaque projector whenever possible to enlarge a text or manual.
• All colored objects used for identification related to a lesson, experiment, or other directions should be labeled with a Braille label marker or otherwise tacitly coded for most students with vision impairments.
• Describe, in detail, visual occurrences, visual media, and directions including all pertinent aspects that involve sight.
• Use a sighted narrator or descriptive video (preferably the latter) to describe aspects of videos or laser disks.
• Describe, in detail, all pertinent visual occurrences or chalkboard writing.
• Where needed, have lesson or direction materials Brailled, use an enlarged activity script, or recorded ahead of time, for class handouts.
• Have tactile 3D tiles, raised line drawings, or thermoforms available to supplement drawings or graphics in a tactile format when needed.
• Whenever possible, use actual objects for three dimensional representations.
• Modify instructions for auditory/tactile presentation.
• Use raised line drawings for temporary tactile presentations.
• Use an overhead projector, chalkboard, graphs, or slides as you would normally, but provide more detailed oral descriptions, possibly supplemented with thermoforms where appropriate.
• Allow student to use a tape recorder for recording classroom presentations or the text.
• Make all handouts and assignments available in an appropriate form: e.g., regular print, large print, Braille, or on a cassette, depending on the students optimal mode of communication.
• Use a monocular or a private eye (electronic miniature television) or similar devices for long range observations of chalk board or demonstration table presentations.